Serving Up Plus Sized Fashion with a Side of Humor

Fat Girl in a Little Kayak

A few weeks ago I went to a friend’s art show in Austin. In fact, I think the last outfit I blogged about was from said show. Clearly, I have fallen behind on my posting schedule – OOPS!

Anyhoo, while in Austin I was able to go Kayaking for the first time and I decided that the experience was worthy of a mention here at FNL. Here’s why…

If you know me at all then you know I LOVE to try new things. New restaurants, new cities and countries, new looks, new activities, meet new people…you get the point. So as someone who enjoys trying something for the first time, you would think I would jump at the chance to go kayaking with my girls, Audrey and Janae.

On the contrary, I was hesitant.

Why? Because I was having a not-so-body-positive moment. That’s right. Even plus-sized bloggers and BoPo activists (I use the term fairly loosely) have their down days and friends, I was struggling.

My inner monologue went something like this:

What if I don’t fit in the kayak? What if I tip over and fall in the water? What if I can’t do it right and everyone sees the poor fat girl who can’t kayak? What if I look like an elephant squeezed into a tiny little canoe?!!!

As silly as it may seem to some, if you struggle with being body positive, then you understand that those inner voices can be really hard to overcome.

But I’m here to tell you, it’s not impossible and fat girls CAN, in fact, kayak. I am happy to report that my FOMO (“fear of missing out” for my older readers) won out over my lack of BoPo that day and I not only went kayaking with my friends but I didn’t fall in!!!

Don’t get me wrong, the process of me trying to get into the kayak without falling head first into the river was no small feat. And I feel 100% certain that it was the most entertaining thing the “kayak assistant” had seen all week. In fact, I’m pretty sure I heard the faint sounds of a stifled laugh. But I didn’t care.

It’s also important to note that not only was I ABLE to kayak – I LOVED every minute of it. What a beautiful, relaxing time we had on the water. The hour was over way too soon and the pictures can’t really do justice to the experience. It is absolutelysomething I will do again!

So, the moral of the story is this. Stop worrying about what others will think or if you will look stupid trying something new and just do it already!